Mark Scanlon (cyclist)

Mark Scanlon
Personal information
Full name	Mark Scanlon
Born	10 October 1980 (age 43); Sligo, Republic of Ireland
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	79 kg (174 lb)
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Retired
Amateur teams
1992–1995	Éire Óg CC
1996–1998	Sligo CC
1999	Rabobank Beloften
2000	CC Étupes
2001	VC Nantes 44
2001–2002	Vélo-Club La Pomme Marseille
2002	AG2R Prévoyance (stagiaire)
Professional teams
2003–2006	AG2R Prévoyance
2007	Toyota–United
Major wins
	National Elite Road Race Champion (2002, 2003); World Junior Road Race Champion (1998)

Mark Scanlon (born 10 October 1980 in Cranmore, Sligo) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist, who was the first Irishman to ride in the Tour de France since 1993. He also competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Amateur career edit

Scanlon came to prominence when he won the junior race at the 1998 world road race championship, on his 18th birthday.

After winning the world championships, Scanlon signed for the Rabobank cycling team's development squad. He failed to break through because of injuries and he left in 2000. He joined CC Etupes in France and rode lesser French races. Linda McCartney Racing Team offered him a contract in 2001 but folded before he joined them. Scanlon continued to ride in France with VC Nantes 44 and then VC La Pomme Marseille. In 2002 he won the Irish road championship.

Professional career edit

Scanlon signed for AG2R Prévoyance for 2003. He won a stage of that year's Tour of Denmark, leading the race for three days. He won the Irish championship again.

In 2004 Scanlon became the first Irishman in the Tour de France since Stephen Roche in 1993. He also represented Ireland in the 2004 Summer Olympics in the road race on the opening day of the Games. Scanlon was injured for much of 2005 and 2006 but rode the 2006 Giro d'Italia.

He left the AG2R Prévoyance team at the end of 2006, disillusioned with the amount of racing required in the ProTour. At the start of 2007, he rode for the Toyota-United team in the USA. In 2007 there were reports he had retired.^[1]^[2] Scanlon denied them, saying he would like to captain a third division Irish continental team^[3] but for the time being, he had taken a "step back from professional cycling."^[2]